Studies Examine Racial Disparities In Special Education

Black students are classified as needing special education far more
often than white students, and are less likely, once they have been
identified as having disabilities, to be placed in mainstream
classrooms, according to a report by the Civil Rights Project at
Harvard University.

The report, based on four studies commissioned by the Harvard
project, offers fresh statistics on minority representation in special
education, long an issue of concern among advocates for racial and
ethnic minority groups. For example, the studies found that
African-American students were three times more likely than white
students to be labeled mentally retarded, and therefore relegated to
less challenging special education classes.

Authors of the report, released March 2, view bias against
minorities as at least partially responsible for the disparities.

"Despite some far-reaching improvements, both racial and disability
discrimination persists," said Harvard education professor Gary
Orfield, a leading expert on school desegregation who co-directs the
Civil Rights Project with Harvard law professor Christopher Edley Jr.
"As a result, minority children deemed eligible for special education
are in jeopardy of being discriminated against on the grounds of both
race and disability."

But not all observers agreed that the studies had found evidence of
racial or ethnic discrimination.

"It stands to reason that more minorities are in special education
because they are poorer," said Jorge E. Amselle, a spokesman for the
Center for Equal Opportunity, a Washington-based group that takes a
generally conservative stand on racial and ethnic issues in education.
"It's more a matter of apathy than racial discrimination."

Socioeconomic factors, especially poverty, have long been cited as a
potential explanation for disproportionately high numbers of black
students in certain categories of disability, including mental
retardation. But the author of one of the new studies, researcher
Donald Oswald of Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond,
suggested that his findings indicated that other factors could be at
play. Specifically, Mr. Oswald found that the wealthier the school
district, the more likely black males were to be labeled mentally
retarded and sent to special classes.

"Why is it happening more in wealthier communities: Is it because
black students stand out? Is it because they are the poor in that area?
Are the schools looking at those kids differently?" Mr. Oswald said.
"There are people around the country who would say that without a doubt
there was discrimination."

Vigilance Urged

About 11 percent of all students nationwide receive special
education services. In 1998, approximately 1.5 million minority
children were identified as having mental retardation, emotional
disturbance, or a specific learning disability.

Pointing to 1997 data from the U.S. Department of Education, the
Civil Rights Project report says that, nationally, black students were
2.9 times more likely than whites to be identified as having mental
retardation. They were 1.9 times more likely to be identified with an
emotional problem, and 1.3 times more likely to be identified with a
specific learning disability.

The report also says that minority students in special education
were not likely to be returned to regular classes.

"To the extent that minority students are misclassified, segregated,
or inadequately served, special education can contribute to a denial of
equality of opportunity, with devastating results in communities
throughout the nation," the report states.

Bill East, the executive director of the National Association of
State Directors of Special Education, said the findings saddened him.
"School districts and states should be concerned about the way they
identify special education students," he said. "They need to look at
programs and practices very closely and do everything they can to make
sure that the problems the studies brought out are not happening in
their districts."

John Jackson, the national director of education for the National
Association for the Advancement of Colored People, suggested that the
report points to "the need for better assessment and placement in
special education."

"We need better teacher training, more resources for special
education, and a change in attitude," Mr. Jackson said. "Special
education is not a final resting place for students. It should in some
cases put them on an accelerated plan to get them back into regular
education."

Mr. Jackson said parents could help the situation by speaking up for
their children. "Parents need to advocate whether or not their child
needs special education," he said. "If they don't need it, they should
fight that classification. If they do need it, they should make sure
they have all the services they need."

Mr. Amselle of the Center for Equal Opportunity suggested that the
problem highlighted in the report "reflects a system that feels
overwhelmed."

"It's easy to put a kid in special ed and write them off," he said.
"It's an easy way to get the problem kids out of the classroom."

The Civil Rights Project authors recommend that the Education
Department's office for civil rights take a more aggressive stance
against districts with disproportionately large numbers of minority
students in special education. The report also calls on states to
intervene in districts where minority students are overrepresented in
special education classes.

The report prompted U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah, D-Pa., to call for a
federal investigation into the issue of minority overrepresentation in
special education.

"On behalf of the millions of all children attending public schools,
I am requesting that you immediately launch an investigation into this
matter by the Department of Education and by the civil rights division
of the Justice Department," Rep. Fattah wrote in a letter to President
Bush and Secretary of Education Rod Paige. "If you truly believe that
'All of our [nation's] citizens are created equal, and must be treated
equally,' then you will agree that racial discrimination has no place
in our society, particularly not in our public school system."

Lindsey Kozberg, a spokeswoman for the Education Department, said
the department commissioned a study by the National Academy of Sciences
on the issue in 1999 and awaits its recommendations, which are expected
in the fall. She said that the agency's office for civil rights
monitors minority placements in special education, and that the
problems highlighted in the report were nothing new.

"We have seen the Harvard studies and are concerned about the
correlation between race and special education placement," Ms. Kozberg
said. "But we are awaiting the results of our own study."

Vol. 20, Issue 26, Page 6

Published in Print: March 14, 2001, as Studies Examine Racial Disparities In Special Education

The IDEA
Partnerships, a coalition national projects funded by the U.S.
Department of Education's Office of Special Education and
Rehabilitative Services, discusses IDEA's provisions
for preventing inappropriate placements for minority children in a
FAQ.

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